Tasting - Tilia Merlot 2021

Bought this bad boy to pair with a feijoada recipe I whipped up on Wednesday (2/15). Was busy entertaining guests then so I didn't get a full tasting, redid it on 2/17. For the uncultured, feijoada is a brazilian stew with black beans and several kinds of smoked/salted meat. 

Wine: Tilia Merlot 2021 | Wine.com

Location: Mendoza, Argentina

Year: 2021

Cost: ~$11.00 at Vintage Cellar

Color: So dark & red it is opaque in the glass

Legs: lots of em and flowing quick - low viscosity

Smell: spices? little to no "alcohol" smell. concord grapes (like Welch's), faintly on the top of my sinuses. Whiff of cigarette! Tobacco?

After tasting, could pick up bay leaf scent! Probably some other kind of spice too that I am not smart enough to identify.

Taste: Salty on the tip of the tongue, more of that tobacco character too. Tobacco flavor almost tastes like the inside of Hokie House or Champs in downtown Blacksburg (a mixture of cigarettes, spilled drinks, and BO, but not in a bad way...). I like that a lot. Second sip, picked up more tartness, very little fruit, mineraley. Not very tannic, but some in there. Third sip - continued tasting Welch's grape juice (not a lot, and not in a bad way).

General Notes: Probably important to note that I opened this wine and used about 1/3 of it on 2/15, and this tasting was done on 2/17, so there was ~45 hours of more oxygen contact than would be in a new unopened bottle.

I really really enjoyed this wine, and will probably buy it again. Fun to pick up that cigs-inside smell haha.

Wine Folly says this should taste like cherry, plum, chocolate, bay leaves, and vanilla. I could realistically see the cherry coming from that tartness I tasted, and definitely got the bay leaves. Didn't get the other flavors, but I'm gonna buy this again and see what's up with more tasting.